This Is Our Life Real or Not Real?
by mudblood228
Summary: This is basically what Peeta and Katniss's life is like after everything. PLEASE READ. This kind of goes along with my other story "My Peeta". I own nothing, all rights to Suzanne Collins author of the Hunger Games.
1. A Blessing

I stared blankly at myself in the mirror. My dark brown hair fell out of its braid in small waves over my shoulders, my grey eyes held a mixture of emotions. I was almost, afraid, yet I felt something else as well. This wasn't a bad thing by any means. It used to seem like a bad thing to me, it used to hold so much fear that I wasn't even willing to consider it. My hand fell to my stomach, I imagined what I would look like in a few months. All I could see was me, me with my balloon of a stomach and strangely, a warm smile on my face. As if I couldn't be any happier. Suddenly I thought even more into the future. Me cradling a small bundle in my arms, me being the most important person in the world to this new being, me staring into the eyes of _my _child. Of course Peeta would be there as well. I could just imagine him, pressing his ear to my stomach, eyes shining as he held him or her for the first time, protecting them beyond what seems possible. I smiled and felt different. This wasn't scary. This, was a blessing. I walked out to the living room of mine and Peeta's house and waited for him to come home.

When he arrived I was still sitting on the couch, staring into space, clutching my stomach.

"Katniss?" I distantly heard. I didn't respond right away, I was still to caught up in this phenomenon. I Katniss Mellark was going to have a child.

"Katniss? Are you okay?" Peeta said again and I finally acknowledged him. His face was inches from mine. His blue eyes were worried, and he was rubbing my shoulder. I smiled at him and patted the seat next to me.

"Hello honey" I said, I had taken to calling him by those pet names that every couple seemed to have for each other, I mean it didn't really seem like a me thing but it just seemed to fit with us. He smiled at me in relief and kissed my cheek.

"You had me worried there for a moment" he said while sliding his arm around my shoulders.

"I'm sorry, I guess I was just zoning out" I sighed happily. Peeta looked at me skeptically. I was never in this good of a mood. Well I could be but it was rare.

"What happened today? You seem extra cheerful" he noted with a smile.

"Well, I have some news for you…" I trailed off.

"Oh do tell" he said, sarcastically leaning forward with both hands under his chin, blinking rapidly. I shoved him playfully.

"Shut up you idiot" I laughed. He chuckled and laid his head in my lap. I stroked his hair , he caught my left hand and played with the ring on my finger. I smiled at him then felt butterflies in my stomach as I prepared to tell him.

"But I'm serious, I have some big news to tell you"

"Okay, what?"

"Well, I think we need to paint the extra room" I told him. He sat up and looked confused.

"Why?" he asked.

"Well, we're going to be having another person living here" I said excitedly.

"Is your mother coming? Why does that mean we have to paint the room? I mean isn't it satisfactory for a visit?" he complained loudly, falling forward onto a pillow. I laughed at him.

"I meant, someone will be here permanently" I whispered, hoping he would get it.

"Your mother is going to live with us? You know I love your mother Katniss but really?"

"PEETA YOU IDIOT! I'M TRYING TO TELL YOU THAT I'M PREGNANT!" I shouted, throwing my hands in the air, with my eyes wide and eyebrows raised. Peeta sat up and looked at me in stunned silence. I rolled my eyes at him and got up leaving him on the couch. He immediately got up and dashed to me. He grabbed my waist and swung me around to face him. His grin was so pure and alive that I smiled. He laughed out loud and kissed me.

"A baby! We're having A BABY!" he repeated over and over. He picked me up and swung me around in a circle.

"I take it this means your happy?" I asked sarcasticly.

"Happy? Katniss I'm ecstatic!"

That night we stayed up late talking about names, our own childhood, and how we planned on raising our child.


	2. Right Now

I had sweat pouring down my face and was screaming bloody murder. _I am going to KILL Peeta._ I thought. I clenched his hand so hard, I was surprised it hadn't fallen off due to lack of blood flow yet.

"Come on Katniss! You can do this!" Peeta's voice pulled me from my wallowing back to the situation. It was happening. Right now.

It had started about five hours ago. We were having a wonderful day. Peeta had baked my favorite food, cheesy buns. I picked off bit of the cheesy bun in my hands and lay comfortably with my back propped up on the armrest of the couch, my feet in Peeta's lap. He had taken to massaging them since it was one of the only things that got me out of my moods. I rubbed circles on my huge stomach and smiled at Peeta.

"So have we decided on the name FINALLY?" Peeta asked amusedly.

"Well I don't know P" I had heard this woman call her husband T, short for Tanner and fell into the habit of called Peeta P.

"Oh come on! The baby is due any day now and we haven't even decided on a name!" Peeta sighed. I smirked at him.

"Well, I had an idea…I mean why not name them after something important? Or someone…"

"That…is a wonderful idea Katniss, and I think we know what to do…" he was cut short by my sharp intake of breath. My cheesy bun fell to the floor and I gasped again.

"Katniss? Katniss are you alright?" he asked quickly, checking vital signs.

"Peeta, we need to go, NOW!" I nearly screamed.

And now here we are. In my mother's house, she came back from the other districts after hearing that I was pregnant. With the money still from the games we had gotten her house expanded and now there was a sterile room with a bed and other official equipment. That was where I was now. I whimpered as another contraction hit and I wanted nothing more than for this to end. This was terrible! I was in a haze for what seemed like forever then with one final scream, it all stopped. I let out a huge breath and heard a tiny gasp, followed by wailing. My focused in on the bloody, squirming body my mother held up.

"Oh!" I choked out, tears blurring my vision, a smile plastering itself onto my face. Peeta lay his forehead in my hair and I leaned into him.

"You did it Katniss…" he sighed and kissed my cheek.

"It's a girl!" my mother called out happily.

I could only laugh weakly and continue watching her clean up this little human being Peeta and I had brought into the world.

"Peeta, would you like to cut the umbilical cord?"

"I'll be right back sweetie" he whispered then dashed over. He looked almost nervous as he did it, then picked up our daughter, so gently you would have thought she was made of porcelain. She was wrapped in a pink blanket, a tiny pink bow placed on her head. Peeta had tears in his eyes as he carried her over to me.

"Here you go Katniss" he whispered and placed her in my waiting arms. I was tired, but my heart swelled when I looked at her. Her skin wasn't quite as dark as mine, but not quite as light as Peeta's either. Her dark brown hair was thick with curls and little whimpers escaped from her. I looked into her eyes, a beautiful clear blue, just like Peeta. I leaned down and kissed her warm little head and looked up at Peeta. He nodded and I spoke the first words of her life…

"Hello and welcome to the world…Rue Primrose Mellark"


	3. The Meadow

I smiled as I watched Peeta chase our little toddler around. Rue had grown so much. Her dark brown hair flew out behind her in a mess of curls as she waddled around the meadow. She shrieked with delight as Peeta scooped her up in his arms and spun around. He laughed with her and balanced her on his hip, grinning from ear to ear.

"Airplane daddy!" she demanded, her high soprano voice like tinkling bells.

"You got it kiddo" he obliged then immediately started swinging her around and running around the meadow. She giggled and threw her arms out in front of her, pretending to fly. I smiled and thought about our life. It had been two years since she was born, and they had been the best two years of my life. I had never thought I could love someone so much. I remembered how after most of Peeta's episodes, he would calm down with one look at Rue, every time he would ask "This is our life, real or not real?" and I would always answer "Real". Now I watched as two of the most important people in the world to me ran around. I patted my stomach, there was another one coming to. I hadn't told Peeta yet, though I think he was starting to suspect something. After all yesterday I had asked for cheesy buns, with peanut butter, and salsa…I'm pretty sure he had an idea. The sun was setting and I decided it was time to go home.

"Peeta, Rue! I think its time to go" I called. Rue came bounding toward me and I stood up ready, I was well practiced. She reached me within a minute and I walked toward her, and scooped her up. She giggled madly as I pecked her cheek and maneuvered her so that she was on my back. I hooked my arms under her little legs and looked back at Peeta. He was slowly making his way toward us, smiling. Suddenly, I saw another figure appear out of the bushes behind Peeta, a bow in his hand. My heart stopped, I couldn't see the person's face, but he was armed, and he was near my family.

"Peeta!" I called turning so that Rue was not facing the threat. I slowly backed up toward the tree that marked the edge of the meadow, I was ready to climb like a spider monkey up that tree if needed. Peeta noticed my actions and turned quickly, seeing the man as well, then another figure emerged after him, this person was carrying something. _Great_ I thought_ A weak link to target_, the survival instincts from the Games coming out in me. I analyzed every possible situation and escape. No one was going to hurt Rue, I was not going to loose her. Peeta sprinted toward us, placing himself as a barrier between us and the people at the other side of the meadow.

"Who are? Show yourself!" Peeta called out. The figure in the bushes looked up, and started making their way toward us. I saw the old bow I had stashed here when I was young on a branch in the tree. I leaned toward Peeta and whispered in his ear.

"Take Rue, I have a bow in the tree, I'm going to get it"

"Okay" he breathed back, and in a swift motion I had transferred Rue to Peeta's back, and he hooked his arms under her legs and she wrapped her arms around his neck in a vice like grip. I backed up slowly and as soon as I felt my heel hit the tree trunk I swung up the branches like I had during the games. I was still a lethal fighting machine. I grabbed the bow and dropped out of the tree landing in front of Peeta and Rue. I notched an arrow and took aim.

"If you try anything you will be dead before you can say 'oops'" I warned. The man stopped in his tracks. I glared, never shifting from my protective stance.

"Aw come on' said a tired voice, I felt my eyes go wide ' are you saying you really don't recognize me Catnip?"


	4. The Followers

"Gale?" I questioned in disbelief. He had seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth after the revolution. I hadn't seen him in years. I lowered my bow and slowly walked toward him.

"Hi Katniss" he said gently. I left about four feet of space between us and just looked at him. He shrugged at me and smiled. I looked into his grey eyes and was home.

"Oh Gale!" I sighed and hugged him fiercely. His arms encased me just as they used to. I stepped back and observed him. He looked, older, he looked tired, he almost looked like Haymitch, without the drunk part. I glanced back at Peeta who was now holding Rue normally. His face was a mask and I knew he must be feeling a little strange about this.

"Peeta, come here!" I called. I motioned for him to come over. He hugged Rue closer to him and walked over, stopping, and standing stiffly beside me. Gale looked over his shoulder to the woman in the shadows. Another small person had poked its head out from behind her.

"I'll be right back Katniss" Gale said, walking to the shadows. I looked at Peeta, who was staring straight a head.

"Peeta?" I whispered.

"Yes dear?" he sighed. I took his hand and squeezed it. He pouted and huffed.

"Peeta, I love you, and I chose you, remember?"

"Yes, you won't leave me for him, real or not real?" he asked, his eyes closed, his grip on Rue tight.

"Real, I would never leave, no matter what happens I am never leaving you" I told him, and kissed him on the cheek. He smiled and sighed.

"Thank you" I just squeezed his hand again as Gale led the woman out of the shadows. My jaw dropped. The woman stepped into the light and I took in her red hair, pale skin, and dark green eyes. It was the Avox girl. And holding her hand was a small boy with olive toned skin, dark red hair, and grey eyes. In her other arm was a bundle, and Gale held another. One head of black hair poked out of one, while another head of dark red hair poked out of the other. I looked in disbelief between her and Gale.

"Katniss this is my wife, Lavinia, I'm sure you remember her"

"Um yes, how are you Lavinia?" I asked, still shocked. She signed the word okay, mouthed it, and nodded. She looked sick, as did the little boy. He looked up at us, obviously frightened. I took Rue from Peeta and knelt down to look at him. Rue's hair hid her face like a curtain, but slowly she emerged to look at the boy.

"Hello there" I said to him. His lip trembled and he clutched at his mother's hand.

"His name is Darius, he is three years old" Gale said. Rue now leaned forward, her blue eyes sparkling.

" That is our daughter Rue" Peeta told Gale.

"She's beautiful"

"Thank you"

Rue looked at me and back to Darius.

"I play?" she asked. I looked to Gale and he nodded.

"Darius, would you like to play with Rue?" I asked him. He looked nervous, Rue waved at him, then he smiled a little a waved back. I nodded to Rue and set her down on the grass. She patted the grass next to her and Darius moved to sit next to her. We walked a few feet away from the children and began to talk.

"Gale, are you okay? What are you doing here?" I asked him.

"Well…no, I'm not alright. We were in District 13 and there is a rag tag group of loyalists to the Capitol left. They destroyed half the District. It was all we could to escape. But one of them recognized me and has been following us! Lavinia just gave birth five days ago to our twin daughters, the one I'm holding is Emmy, she has Elice, and we don't know what to do…" Gale said.

"Are they still following you?" Peeta asked

"Yes, we've been trying to out run them, but we can't shake them! Is there anyway you could help us?" Gale pleads. I looked toward the children, then to the edge of the meadow, scanning for any disturbance. The men kept talking, I clenched the bow in my hand, ready to shoot at a moments notice.

"You can stay in our house tonight, tomorrow we will take you to the trains and get you to District 4 where Annie can hide you…"I heard Peeta say. Suddenly I heard a twig snap and saw a movement out of the corner of my eye.

"PEETA! GET RUE!" I yelled, notching an arrow and shooting it into the trees. I heard a yell, then a thump. Peeta reacted fast and scooped Rue and Darius into his arms. Gale gave Emmy to Lavinia and she ran to the safe side of the meadow with Peeta. Gale and I stood back to back, waiting for the attackers to come forth. Between the two of us, there was almost no way these people would make it out alive. It was quiet for a moment then grenades shot out of the forest and hit the ground. Gale and I shot a rain of arrows into the shadows and bolted. Gale dodged all of the grenades and even the knives that were thrown at us. I had more trouble. I barely side-stepped a grenade and got caught by some rocks that were blown every which way from the explosion. My right arm was bleeding and one piece of rock hit the corner of my eye so my vision was slightly impaired. I shot an arrow behind me and heard a cry of pain, and a yell of outrage. I put on an extra spurt of speed, then I heard something whiz past my head, or so I thought. It was a knife, and it sliced into the side of my head. I stumbled and my foot hit a grenade thrown seconds before. I barely had time to process what was happening before it exploded.

"KATNISS!" I heard Gale yell. We had been only feet from the forest where we could conceal ourselves. The explosion sent the metal flying everywhere. I ripped into my body, before it could it I desperately curled into a ball to protect my stomach. _My baby_ I thought. Then I blacked out, feeling nothing but burning pain everywhere.


	5. We're Not Giving Up Now

"Mommy?" I heard distantly. I was trapped in the darkness, I tried to escape but I couldn't. I vaguely remembered what had happened, and winced as I felt a sharp pain in my wrist.

"Gale, take Rue…" I heard someone say. Rue? Was she alright? Did anything happen to her? I then thought about my other child, oh no. Was it alright? Had my injuries done anything to them? I fought harder to escape this crushing darkness and finally saw a thin strip of bright white light as I opened my eyes a crack. I saw Peeta above me, he looked like he had just lost everything.

"Mrs Everdeen, is she going to be alright?" he asked hurriedly, I thought he was talking about Rue and tried moving to get to her. I barely managed to twitch my finger, and I realized he was talking about me.

"I don't know Peeta, I will do e-everything I can" my mother whispered. I felt terrible, I was making everyone feel this way because I couldn't dodge a stupid knife.

"Peeta" I whispered. My throat felt like it was on fire, my voice was raspy, and just loud enough for Peeta to hear me.

"Katniss! Oh thank goodness you're alright!" he cried, tears slowly traced their way down his cheeks. I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment, the bright light hurt, and I was so tired. I heard a gasp and opened my eyes again.

"What Peeta?"

"Don't fall asleep! Stay with me Katniss!" he demanded. I knew what could happen if I fell asleep, and I remembered forcing him to stay awake during the games, fearing that if he left even for a short time, he would never return to me.

"Okay Peeta…I need to tell…you something" I panted, it took a lot out of me to even talk.

"What?" he asked hurriedly.

"I'm pregnant" I breathed. Peeta and my mother both froze. My mother seemed to be pondering how to work around this and Peeta just looked shocked.

"You're pregnant? Katniss! Is the baby going to be okay? Oh god…" Peeta said.

"The baby will be fine as long as Katniss is fine" my mother chimed in. I sighed in relief. The baby would be fine.

"Peeta, the baby is going to be fine…" I sighed to him, smiling. He smiled back and placed his hand on my stomach.

"Another one…" he mumbled.

"Katniss, I'm going to give you some medicine to make you sleep, you really just need to rest while I patch you up. By curling into a ball, you protected yourself pretty well. Your back is pretty scratched up though. And your right arm is broken, it took most of the impact. And you have minor cuts everywhere else." My mother explained to me. I just nodded and soon felt the cold needle enter my arm. Peeta kissed my head and I fell asleep holding his hand.

**LIKE A MONTH LATER**

Well everything had turned out fine. I was pretty banged up, but the baby and I survived. All the Followers were either killed or captured, so Gale stayed in District 12. Since there were so many champion's houses, he moved into one about two houses down from us. Rue played with Darius everyday and I was getting bigger. Rue was very excited about having a sibling. She was absolutely positive she was going to get a little sister. I remember one of the times we tried to explain to her that she could have a brother. It was around eight o'clock and almost bedtime for her.

"I can't wait to meet little sister!" Rue squealed in delight as I held her on my lap and she felt my tummy. It wasn't much yet, but there was definitely a bump. I smiled at her and laughed.

"Rue, remember, you could be getting a little brother" I said gently. Her face was absolutely priceless. She wrinkled her nose like she smelt something bad, squinted her eyes, and shook her head.

"No brother, that's icky! Only a sister!" she pouted. Peeta and I laughed at her causing her to huff at us and cross her little arms.

"Sweetie, I'm sure you will love them no matter what" Peeta told her.

"No daddy! I only love wittle sister!" she said stubbornly. For this child's sake, I had hoped it would be a girl. I ruffled Rue's hair and picked her up to take her to bed. She buried her face in my neck and sighed. I gently put her down in her bed, turned off the light, and left the door open just a crack. I began to walk back down the stairs and stopped dead as I heard a grunt of pain. I slowly descended a few steps and saw

Peeta, his face deathly white, his face contorted into a grimace. He had dropped the pan of bread he had been removing from the oven and he was pulling at his hair, as if trying to rip it out. I gasped, and suddenly he turned toward me. I silently cursed myself. I knew he was due for an episode sometime soon. He hadn't had one in almost two months, and that was rare. His eyes met mine, and I could see him struggling. In most cases I could run over to him, hug him and mutter soothing words, until he came back, but this, did not seem like one of those times. His eyes suddenly filled with rage and I slowly backed up towards the door to Rue's bedroom. He caught the movement and barreled toward me. I squeaked a little, and dashed into Rue's room, hitting the light switch and slamming the door shut. I desperately jiggled the lock, willing it to move. I propped myself up against the door by my back and prepared for a struggle.

"Mama, was going on?" Rue mumbled sleepily.

"Nothing, Daddy just isn't feeling well right now" I whispered. All was calm for a moment, then the pounding started. Peeta was pounding on the door with such force that the door frame rattled.

"KATNISS!" he bellowed. I just braced myself against the door, willing myself to wait this out. The pounding stopped, and I was stupid enough to let my guard down for just a moment, considering that maybe it was over. Then the door flew off its hinges. I flew with it, into the corner of the room. I was not hurt, just shocked, then I saw him eyeing Rue. I had no idea if her resemblance to me would trigger anything. When she was a baby one look at her would calm him down, but now, as she started looking more and more like me, I wasn't sure.

"Peeta!" I yelled, trying to distract him. He looked over at me, then swiftly walked over and pulled me from the corner. I braced myself. His fingers, were suddenly at my throat, just as they been all those years ago. I looked into his blue eyes, willing him to return to me. Just as his fingers contracted, his eyes softened. His hand fell slack, and his eyes rolled back into his head. He started to fall but I caught him. I heard Rue yelp, and start to cry. I looked from Peeta to her, having no idea what to do. My own eyes were stinging. This hadn't happened for so long, it was almost as if this had never happened, it had stopped for good, and now it was back. There was a cushy rocking chair in Rue's room, so I dragged Peeta there and set him down. I swept the hair out of his eyes and then went to Rue, who was still weeping. I picked her up and rubbed circles on her back.

"Shhhh, Rue, everything is okay" I whispered to her.

"What wrong wif daddy!" she cried.

"Daddy is just sick, don't worry, he'll better in a minute" I said as Peeta started stirring.

"See honey? Look, daddy is fine, do you want to talk to him?"

"Yeah" she told me. I carried her over to the chair and kneeled. I waited and he finally opened his eyes. The look on his face was terrible. He saw the door in the corner, the look on my face, and the watery eyes accompanied by tear stains on Rue's face. I laid my hand on his cheek and he leaned into it.

"Peeta, Rue wants to talk to you" I told him carefully. He looked at her and smiled sadly. He pulled her onto his lap and she automatically scrambled to hug him. He laughed a little then pulled her to face him.

"Hi sweetie"

"Are you okay?" she asked in a small voice

"I am fine Rue, I just wasn't feeling very well" he told her. It took almost twenty minutes for her to calm down but finally Peeta was able to get her to sleep again. We turned off all the lights in the hall and made our way downstairs again. I knew what was going to happen before Peeta could even talk. After any episode he would always scold himself, say he didn't deserve to be with us, that he should leave. He turned to face me once we reached the kitchen and opened his mouth.

"No! Don't even think about it" I told him. I took his face in my hands and forced him to look at me.

"But, I could have hurt Rue, or you and the baby!" he cried.

"But you didn't! And you never will! Peeta listen to me!" I said pulling him down so that our foreheads touched. He sighed and looked at me.

"I love you, and we are going to get through this" I told him defiantly. He looked skeptical but had learned by this point that it was pointless to argue with me. I kissed him and pulled him over to the couch. He looked tired and sad and mad and sick.

"I'm sorry" he mumbled as we sat down.

"There's nothing to be sorry for" I told him, he just rolled his eyes at me. I pulled his head into my lap and stroked his hair. He closed his eyes and took deep breaths. I hummed the song that I had sang to Rue, and his breathing slowly evened out and he fell asleep. I followed suit and thanked God that I had Peeta, and that we were getting through this. We had been doing it for years, there was no way we were going to give up now.


	6. Perfection

I looked around myself. I was in the new nursery with the new baby, Peeta, and Rue. Rue was pouting in the corner because we had delivered the news that she did not get the little sister she had always dreamt of. We had had a son. He looked almost exactly like Peeta, given the fact that he had my grey eyes. I stroked his blonde curls and laughed as his face scrunched up.

"Rue, don't you want to hold your little brother?" Peeta asked. Rue just shook her head and continued pout.

"Oh alright, I guess if you want Darius to hold him before you…" I trailed off, hoping she would take the bait. She looked up in surprise. She looked from me to Peeta and back again in disbelief.

"But, he's my brodder" she said.

"Yes he is, now do you want to come see him?" Peeta asked again. She looked up at us and nodded slowly. She got up and walked over to us. When she got to Peeta she raised her arms up and waited for him to pick her up. He did so and knelt next to the rocking chair I was in. I watched as her face lit up in wonder as she looked at the baby. She stuck out her hand and looked at me. I nodded and she grasped his little hand. She then smiled and giggled as her brother managed a tiny smile in response.

"What his name?" she asked, still looking down at him.

"Finnick" I told her, still stroking his tiny curls and watching my two children. Peeta smiled at me, and I smiled back at him. This, our little family, was perfection.


	7. Rue

**RUE'S POV**

I walked with Darius down to the newly built Hob. My mother told me how it had been around when she was young, but then during all the chaos surrounding the rebellion, I forced the story out of her and dad, it had been burned. The traders of the District just built it back up, since it was such good business. I was good at archery, just like my mom. Darius was good at archery too, so we would always go hunting together. Its not like we needed to, what with my dad and my little brother working the bakery, we always had enough food, it was just fun. Darius's family was bigger than mine, and they didn't get all the benefits of being the baker's daughter, so they needed the extra food. I mean mom did give them all of our leftovers from the day, anything we didn't sell ended up at the Hawthorns' house. Darius and I had actually just brought in a decent kill, and planned to sell it down at the Hob, just like my mom and his dad used to do.

"So, did you want to come over tonight?" I asked him. He was my best friend. He was seventeen and I was sixteen making him one year older than me, but we've been friends since I was two. He just smiled and nodded at me. I smiled back and "accidently" shoved him with my shoulder. He smirked at me and did the same.

"Excuse me miss" he said sarcastically. I just smiled and we kept walking.

We got to the Hob and managed to make a good amount of money. We kept half the food for his family, and with the extra money, got some things for our siblings and ourselves. Darius got each of his sisters a hair ribbon. I got my brother a new paint set, I had brought some of my own money with because his birthday was today. For myself I got a new vest, and Darius got materials to make a new bow. With our arms full we went back home.

"Alright, I'll be over in a minute, I'm just going to give this stuff to my sisters and tell mom and dad I'm eating over here tonight" he said with a wink. He was such a flirt. I rolled my eyes and nodded at him. He laughed and ran over to his house. I sighed and opened the door to my house. The smell of fresh baked bread flowed from the house and I smiled as my father rounded the corner, flour all over his face and in his hair.

"Hi daddy" I called as I walked into the house, and up the stairs.

"Hello honey, how was your day?" he asked.

"Good, I'll be right down"

"Peeta, was that Rue?" I heard my mother ask.

"No, it was our other daughter who is named after a flower…" my dad answered sarcastically.

"Peeta, watch it" I heard my mom mutter, I giggled and entered my room. It was painted a light yellow, just like the flower after which I was named, or which my mother's friend was named. I was named after someone who fought with my mom in the Hunger Games. I dropped my pile of stuff on my bed, snatched up the paints and waltzed down the stairs. I went into the family room where my mom sat reading, and my brother sat staring at the wall.

"Hi mom" I said while bending down to kiss her cheek.

"Hello Rue, what did you do today?"

"You know, went hunting with Darius"

"Just like you and Gale" my dad muttered from the kitchen. My mom laughed and smiled pointedly at the kitchen.

"Oh your father…did you do anything else?" she asked knowingly.

"Well I may have stopped by the town and gotten a few things…" I said. My brother Finnick suddenly showed some interest in the conversation.

"Oh? And what did you get?"

"I got myself a vest, and Darius got Emmy and Elice some ribbons for their hair…" I trailed off, knowing this was killing Finn.

"Oh and did you happen to remember what day this is?" Finn asked.

"There was something special about today?" I asked incredulously.

"Only my fourteenth birthday!" he cried.

"Now that you mention it, I think I may have…" he was already up before I could finish the sentence. His blonde hair fell in his grey eyes that sparkled with excitement. I smirked at him and ruffled his hair.

"Here you go little bro" I said tossing the paints at him. His eyes lit up and he hugged me.

"Thanks Rue" he said. I laughed.

"Your welcome"

"That was very nice of you Rue" mom said approvingly.

"Oh mom?"

"Yes?"

"Can Darius come over for dinner?"

"He's already coming isn't he?" she smiled.

"Yeeeeeeeeeeah" I giggled. Right on cue there was a knock on the door. I smiled and glided over to the door. I opened the door and there he stood. I grabbed his hand and pulled him inside.

"Hello Mr. and Mrs. Mellark!" he called over his shoulder as I dragged him upstairs to my room. He tripped going up the stairs and I bent down to help him up. I wrapped my hands around his arm, and noticed that he was slightly muscular. I blew myself off and just pushed him into my room. He fell on my bed and quickly moved so that I could sit with him. I sat down next to him, cross legged and pulled out my sketch book.

"So what have you drawn today?" I flipped to a page that held a picture of a mockingjay. He smiled and looked at it.

"That's awesome!" he exclaimed excitedly.

"Thanks" I muttered. I blushed, wait, why was I blushing?! It was just Darius. We sat a talked until my dad called us down for dinner. As I was getting up I stumbled and almost face planted. I squealed a little preparing for impact, but suddenly felt warm, strong arms around my waist.

"Be careful there Little Flower" Darius laughed at me. When I was six years old my mother took Darius and me to the meadow, and there was a patch of small yellow flowers growing. My mom pointed them out to us and told us the flower was called a rue.

"You're named after a little flower!" Darius had said. Ever since then, he had been calling me Little Flower. I blushed as he pulled me up so I was standing.

""Rue! Darius! Dinners ready!" my dad called again. I looked at the door but suddenly, I didn't want to go. I just wanted to stay here with Darius's arms around me.

"Coming" I called reluctantly. I looked back to Darius, who kept his arms around my waist. A strand of dark red hair fell into his grey eyes. His eyes were the same shade as my brother's, and my mother's. His eyes held a sense of home in them. I quickly brushed the hair from his eyes, then twisted out of his arms and ran downstairs. I heard his laugh flow out of my room, then he too followed the smell of cheesy buns to the kitchen.

The night was fun. We all talked, laughed, and had a great time. By the end of the night we were all exhausted.

"Mom! I'm going to walk Darius home!" I called. My dad came around the corner and looked at me uncertainly.

"Dad, their house is only two houses down. You can watch to make sure I get home okay if you want" I said rolling my eyes. He smiled gently at me, then pulled me to his chest. I smiled and pulled away to walk Darius home. My dad smiled after me then went to sit with my mom and brother.

We walked out the door and down the street to his house. This was normal, comfortable. Suddenly he grabbed my hand, and I looked up startled. He just smiled and looked ahead. I shuffled uncomfortably, I had no idea when this started. I mean he had been getting more touchy feely but I contributed that to years of friendship. It was awkward, but also, felt completely natural. When we got to his door, I stretched on my toes to give him a hug, as usual. I locked my arms around his neck and his went to my waist. I hugged him for a while, then he pulled away. I smiled at him and prepared to go home. My eyes flitted away from him only for a second and suddenly I felt my head being forced upward by a gentle hand. Then I registered a warm pressure on my lips. My eyes widened in shock. Darius was kissing me. I stood frozen for a moment, then closed my eyes and relaxed slightly. He pulled away, blushing, then kissed my cheek and quickly went inside. I stood, rooted to the spot in shock. Then I slowly managed to move my feet, willing them to carry me back home. That night I laid in my bed staring numbly at the ceiling. I fell into an uneasy sleep after tormenting my mind for a few more hours while pondering what had happened.

The next morning I woke up, and prepared as usual. We were on break there fore it was a hunting day. I gathered my dark brown curls into a high pony tail and slid on my leather boots. I grabbed my jacket and pulled it over my arms and grabbed my bow from the hall closet.

"I'm going hunting mom!" I yelled as I headed for the door. I turned back to see her knowing smile and nod. Oh god, did she know? Now that I thought about it, I was almost certain that when I had turned to go home the night before, there had been a flash of the curtain in my house. I swallowed nervously and stepped outside. I slowly walked over to the Hawthorn's and climbed the tree next to Darius's window. I knocked on it three times, our signal that it was time to go. I gently swung down from the branches and started walking down the path. I heard running footsteps behind me and looked over my shoulder. There was Darius, his red hair wild and his eyes bright. I smiled slightly then looked ahead of me.

"Hey Rue" he said as he finally caught up to me. I nodded and we walked quietly into the woods. We stopped at a big flat rock that we used as a meeting point. We sat down and stripped a nearby bush of berries. I held out my hand to him and he smiled and took a few. I took a deep breath, preparing to ask him about the night before.

"Darius, about last night, I-"

"I know, I guess it was stupid, I'm sorry" he said shrugging it off. I looked carefully at him. His face was a mask, but I was good at reading him. His eyes gave him away. They looked pained, as though he was hurting, badly, and I had caused it. I winced, then made up my mind. I placed my hand under his chin and pulled him to face me.

"Hey" I whispered. He smiled sadly and dropped his gaze.

"No Darius, look at me" I demanded. He looked up, face set into that mask that I so despised.

"What Rue?" he asked tiredly.

"I-I, um, well I-"

"No, I get it okay? Lets just forget about it" he said roughly, and looked down again. I was shocked. He was never like this. He was always happy, he was like a sunbeam that lit up even my darkest moments. I knew how to fix this, how to make him alright. And I also knew that I wanted to. I grabbed his face in both my hands and looked into his grey eyes for a second. Then I brought my lips to his and felt him stiffen. Within a millisecond he relaxed and one hand went to my waist, the other the cup my cheek. One of my hands dropped to his chest and I felt him move his lips against mine. I felt my lips move against his as if they had a mind of their own, and I heard him make a noise in the back of his throat. His hands moved to tangle in my hair and mine twined around his neck, pulling us closer together. We continued like this until I heard a little giggle. I jumped away from Darius as if I had been electrocuted and scanned the area while blushing madly. I heard whispering and arguing. I followed those noises to behind a bush where I found Emmy and Elise. Darius followed behind me and groaned when he saw his little sisters.

"What are you doing here?" he grunted at them. They just smiled innocently at him.

"Well we saw you trying to eat Rue last night and wanted to make sure she was okay" Emmy called sarcastically. Darius flushed deep red and his sisters laughed.

"Okay well I'm fine. And Emmy maybe you should keep quiet, I saw you and Finn the other day" I called out. Emmy's face morphed into an expression of surprise and I just smirked at her and grabbed Darius's hand. We ran off into the woods together and stayed together, for a very long time afterwards.


End file.
